BLAINE, Wash. — Officials with the Blaine Police Department announced today, Saturday, May 28th, that they had made an arrest for threats made to Blaine Schools on May 25th that resulted in an hours long lockdown and delayed dismissal for many until after 6pm.
According to today’s announcement, Blaine Police were notified yesterday, May 27th, about threatening text messages sent to 3 juveniles. The messages were very similar to the messages which caused the Blaine Schools to go into lockdown on May 25th. All of the messages, including those on the 25th, were sent via a 3rd party app called “Text Now.”
At about 12:45am on May 28th, Blaine officers were made aware of another threatening text, contacted the recipient by phone and were able to determine that he was actually their suspect. Using information gained by other officers earlier in the day, they confronted the boy with the inconsistencies in his story. The boy admitted that he had sent all of the messages and that he had meant them to be a prank.
After consulting with the Whatcom County Prosecutor’s Office, Blaine Police arrested the juvenile male suspect in Bellingham at 1:22am and booked him into the Whatcom County Juvenile Detention Center. He is suspected of making the threats made against Blaine Schools on May 25th.
Following the lockdown on Wednesday, Blaine Schools classes were canceled for the remainder of the week.